If you are Donald Trump, how do you acknowledge Martin Luther King Jr.? You can’t very well issue a celebratory proclamation, since Dr. King was the epitome of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Nor can you credibly attack (or celebrate) him for his tactic of nonviolent civil disobedience, having pardoned the January 6th insurrectionists for violent civil disobedience.
And, unlike adding your name to the Kennedy Center, to make it the Trump Kennedy Center, you can’t add your name to Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Oh, wait, maybe you can. “King Trump Day” has a certain resonance.
A year ago, Trump did find some positive things to say about Dr. King. Last year, MLK Jr. Day fell on January 20, the day of Trump’s inauguration. Since Trump had done better than expected among African American voters, it was hard for him to avoid pretending to be gracious.
In his inaugural address, Trump touted increases in votes from “virtually every element of our society.” He thanked Black and Hispanic voters in particular for their “tremendous outpouring of love and trust.”
“Today is Martin Luther King Day, and his honor, this will be a great honor, but in his honor we will strive together to make his dream a reality,” Trump said. “We will make his dream come true.” Sure, that and Greenland.
He then turned to the subject of executive actions he planned to take. Among the first were a slew of orders overturning a range of civil rights actions as unacceptable DEI. Soon, senior African American officials of distinction were fired, under suspicion of having been promoted because of their race. Soon, Confederate names were restored to government installations. Basic civil rights enforcement was sabotaged. He canceled federal research grants that had nothing to do with race, on the ground that they promoted DEI.
Trump also tried to take over institutions of the Smithsonian to downplay Black culture and history. “The Smithsonian is OUT OF CONTROL, where everything discussed is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was, and how unaccomplished the downtrodden have been—Nothing about Success, nothing about brightness, nothing about the Future,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Martin Luther King Jr. was the opposite of Donald Trump in every way imaginable. His very memory shames Trump and those who excuse and enable him.
However, it would be both awkward and impractical for Trump to ban MLK Jr. celebrations or to try to expunge his memory. MLK Jr. Day is a federal holiday via an act of Congress. All over red-state and blue-state America, boulevards, bridges, schools, parks, and civic centers are named for Dr. King. Trump can’t issue orders changing that to Jefferson Davis or Bull Connor.
Nor has Trump gotten around to trying to ban Martin Luther King celebrations in the name of resisting DEI. But that may come, if only by stealth.
Following an executive order issued by Trump in December, the National Park Service eliminated MLK Jr. Day, along with the Juneteenth federal holiday, from its calendar of free admission days for sites that charge entrance fees. Instead, the new lineup of fee-free days will include Donald Trump’s birthday.